Evaluation of Changing and Emerging Needs of Public Mental/Behavioral Health Workforce

The California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD) is seeking a research organization to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of changing and emerging needs within the state's Public Mental Health System (PMHS) workforce. This Request for Application (RFA #15-6414) aims to retain an organization to assess various issues affecting the Mental/Behavioral Health Workforce through a multifaceted research approach. Mandatory research methodologies include secondary data analysis, key informant interviews, and focus groups, with the option to propose additional research techniques. The project requires analyzing impacts of policy and regulatory changes on workforce needs and evaluating effective workforce planning models. Evaluation criteria will assess the application across multiple dimensions: narrative/work plan (30 points), applicant qualifications (25 points), project personnel (15 points), references (10 points), and cost (20 points), with a potential additional 30 points from an optional interview. Key dates include a mandatory pre-application conference on February 11, 2016, and a proposal submission deadline of March 18, 2016, at 3:30 PM PST, with an anticipated contract start date of May 2, 2016.

The total funding available for this research contract is $150,000 for fiscal years 2015-16 and 2016-17, with the contract to be awarded to a single applicant based on technical merit scoring. While no specific set-aside designations or restrictions on organization types were explicitly mentioned in the documentation, the RFA indicates a preference for organizations with demonstrable research capabilities in workforce analysis. Costs beyond personnel are limited to 15% of each deliverable, and payment will be structured upon successful completion of eight specified work scope deliverables. The contract period is set for one year, from May 2, 2016, through May 2, 2017. Applicants are expected to independently gather relevant reports, literature, and data from both governmental and non-governmental sources to support their research methodology and analysis of the public mental/behavioral health workforce needs.